Curiosity
by esoterikat
Summary: Curiosity gets the best of Rapunzel at seeing a man for the first time. Takes place after Flynn breaks into the tower, before he is stuffed into the closet. NON-CON WARNING ON THE FIRST CHAPTER! Originally a one-shot, now expanded.
1. Chapter 1

Rapunzel could not conform to the idea that she would not see the floating lights in person. She sat in the darkness, brooding about it, Pascal watching her sympathetically from her lap. She sighed when suddenly she heard something outside.

It sounded like a clunk followed by a soft grunt, and again, a clunk and a grunt growing louder and louder. Rapunzel sat up straight, suddenly tense. It couldn't be Mother. Mother always announced her visit from the base of the tower.

'Pascal . . . ' Rapunzel whispered.

At this, Pascal crawled down from his perch on Rapunzel's knee and sped to the only open window, then climbing up and out.

Rapunzel stood from the chair and took a step toward the window when Pascal reappeared, eyes wide, mouth agape and pointed towards the coarse doodle Mother had drawn on the floor. Rapunzel gasped.

_Ruffians and thugs . . . cannibals . . . men with pointy teeth . . . _

She knew she would need to defend herself from this monster. She needed a weapon, anything. She looked around and her eyes landed on a frying pan. Hard, heavy - it would do.

Gripping the pan's handle, she tiptoed to the window and waited to ambush the barbarian. It was not long before a figure climbed through the open window. He hastily closed the window and heaved a few times to catch his breath. He was facing the opposite direction and had not seen her. Rapunzel took this opportunity to creep closer.

'Alone at last,' he exhaled with relief, head bent over a satchel.

Rapunzel used the frying pan to strike him with all her might. He suddenly went rigid and collapsed. Rapunzel let out a small scream as he hit the ground and dashed to hide behind a mannequin.

She peered over the top of the mannequin's headless top. Being exactly her size, the mannequin concealed her almost completely. He was sprawled on the floor, his satchel at his side, appearing unconscious. She wheeled the mannequin closer to him.

At last, she side-stepped the mannequin to inspect him more closely. She nudged him softly with the base of the frying pan. He did not move. Rapunzel looked to Pascal for aid, who merely shrugged in reply.

Rapunzel turned his head on its side with frying pan. A lock of his thick, brown hair had fallen over his eye. Again, Rapunzel looked to Pascal. Pascal replied by walking to Mother's depiction of a man and changed to match the same red of the drawing as he put his claws up to mouth to imitate fangs, mimicking Mother's drawing.

Rapunzel turned frying pan around, now clutching the base and opened his mouth with the tip of the handle. She was surprised not to see the razor sharp teeth Mother said they would have; there were healthy, normal teeth in their stead.

'Huh,' Rapunzel murmured. Had Mother been mistaken?

Using the the handle, she flipped the lock of hair that had been obsucing his face over his head. She sighed, aghast. Never had Rapunzel seen anything like him. He had rather handsome features, an aquiline nose, a pronounced jaw, with a small beard on his chin. - nothing like she expected. It was disarming.

Rapunzel began to put down the frying pan, slowly moving her head closer to him. He suddenly opened his hazel eyes, wide with puzzlement. Rapunzel gasped and smacked him again as hard as she could. Opening one eye, she saw that he was unconscious once more.

Rapunzel ran to the window and opened it, frying pan in hand and surveyed the land. At least there weren't any more of them.

'Pascal, please keep watch,' Rapunzel whispered.

Pascal obediently took watch.

Rapunzel was head was flooded with a hundred questions at once. Where had he come from? Why was he there? Why did he not match Mother's depiction of the men out there?

Rapunzel kneeled at his side, making sure to put the frying pan out of his reach. She managed to turn his body around so that he was now laying supine.

She gave his face a quick slap with her hand. Nothing. She pried one of his eyes open with her hands. Unresponsive. She slid her hands down to his chest. She could feel his strong heartbeat.

Rapunzel ran her hands through his lush, brown hair to feel his scalp. He was not bleeding, but he would have at least two very large bumps where she had hit him.

So this was a man. Curiosity overtook her. How many chances would she have to examine one? She took his hands in hers. She noted how large they were, rough, his fingers strong and blunt. His hands were so unlike her own small, delicate hands.

She looked to the window. She could not see Pascal from there, nor would he see her. Had Pascal perched from a point where they would be visible to each other, he would advise against her curiosity.

Continuing to examine his hands, she moved up his arm. The hair on his forearm was more evident. She continued to feel her way up his arm. He was well muscled. He had broad shoulders. A strong neck as well.

Before she could change her mind, she began unbuckled his brown belt and unbuttoned the cerulean vest he was wearing from the top down. Once she finished, she moved on to his white shirt and opened it. He had hair on his chest as well. Rapunzel put her hands on his chest to feel his heartbeat once more. His chest was moist. He had been sweating slightly from his physical exertion only moments before. She put her head down to listen to his heartbeat. She could hear him breathing softly as well.

She could smell him now. It was a musky smell, but not unpleasant. She raised her head again and began to feel his chiseled torso, slowly moving down.

Her hands arrived at the top of his tan trousers. She felt a swooping feeling in her stomach and glanced to the open window once more. It seemed safe to continue.

Rapunzel unbuttoned his trousers as well and moved his shirt out of the way. She grabbed at his trousers and jerked them down more. The inguinal lines from his torso looked as though pointing down, to his crotch.

His drawers were made of a thin cloth. Rapunzel instantly noticed the bulge protruding from between his legs. She placed her hand over it and felt something long and warm. Her heartbeat quickened. She finally pulled his drawers down as well and finally exposed his manhood.

His penis contrasted with the tuft of coarse, brown hair. Rapunzel dared to take it into her hand, now blushing deeply and growing hot. She gently fondled the sack beneath his penis. She gripped the penis again. The circumference of it was too great, so that she could not touch her middle finger to her thumb when she held it. With her other hand she ran her finger up and down the underside. Rapunzel gasped when she noticed his penis growing longer and harder.

She glanced back at his face. He was still out cold, but he looked serene. She continued to stimulate him until his penis reached its full length, pointing up and looking proud. He groaned softly.

Taken aback, Rapunzel gasped and reached for the frying pan and held it high, ready to strike again, but the man didn't rouse. Rapunzel continued to examine him once she was sure that he would not wake.

She continued to stroke his penis, no longer minding the moans he emitted every so often. Her own breathing was becoming more and more ragged. She noticed the tip leaking a clear fluid, which made the head of his penis glisten. Rapunzel reached up to stroke the tip, when she noticed the sack growing taut.

He moaned slightly more loudly and from the tip burst out a milky-looking liquid that landed on his abdomen. Rapunzel put the tips of her fingers to the liquid. It was hot and sticky. She now noticed the penis was growing soft again.

Suddenly aware of herself, Rapunzel wiped his abdomen down with his own shirt and quickly dressed him again.

Rapunzel stood and sighed, wiping her hands on her dress. She would have to hide him. She sat on his muscular legs, straddling him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into a sitting position against her.

He sat precariously limp, so that she had to keep put his head over her shoulder, his face towards her neck.

Rapunzel kept him in that position by slipping one hand under his arm and holding it against his shoulders, pushing him against her. With her other hand she reached for her hair and proceeded to set about the awkward task of wrapping her hair around his torso, using it as a rope. It was made more difficult by the man breathing against her sensitive neck, once even smacking his lips, grazing her skin so delectably that she almost forgot what she was doing.

Finally satisfied that she had wrapped him in her hair securely enough, she lay him down again. She sighed again gazing at the handsome stranger. She might never again have the opportunity to stare at him at her liberty.

She stood and wondered how she would set about stuffing him in her closet.

**A/N: Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

Rapunzel and Eugene walked side by side, still sopping wet. Her hair was heavy with moisture and she carried some of it in her hands to alleviate some of the weight, the rest dragging behind as usual.

She surreptitiously glanced to her right, watching nervously as he scratched at a guilty white spot on his blue vest. How was it possible that all that water hadn't washed it out? His befuddled expression clearly said he knew nothing of the liberties she had taken with his body while he was unconscious, but her face burned with guilt all the same; she held her hair closer to her face so he would not see her blush.

'What's wrong with _you_?'

'Hmm?' she squeaked. 'Oh, nothing.'

'I could swear you're _blushing_,' he teased, grinning.

'I'm not blushing!' she said tersely. 'I'm just tired. I'm not wearing shoes and my hair and clothes are soaking wet.'

'Let's stop for the night. It doesn't look like anyone's following and it's starting to get dark in any case. Come on, you can show me what that glowy hair of yours does.'

In a surprisingly gallant gesture, he took the mound of hair in his right arm, accommodating it over his right shoulder so it draped behind them in a 'U' shape. He then offered his left arm as support to her, which she accepted, interlacing her own arm through.

The makeshift bandage on his left hand was soaked through with blood. She reached out to touch the back of his hand, 'Does it still hurt?'

'Not so much anymore,' he said as he led her off the path and toward the woods.

* * *

They'd lucked into finding the remains of a fire in a glade. There was still some unused firewood and the spot had rocks around it to keep it contained. Even with one hand injured, Eugene had expertly made the fire.

He had made an excuse of going to find more firewood, even though they probably had enough to last through the night.

The truth was that he could no longer contain his arousal. He could hardly stop himself from flirting with her even after telling himself he wouldn't anymore. He was becoming increasingly attracted to the blonde traveling with him, but it wasn't like he could just take her. Even _he_ had some sense of morality and she wasn't like the women he usually seduced.

The women he seduced were never naïve, young girls. Some had been the unsatisfied housewives of his parters-in-crime, some had been favorites in brothels, some had been coarse local girls – always women who knew what they were doing and knew what they wanted.

But her youth was intoxicating to him – her green eyes, wide with innocence, her supple skin, her pert breasts – it was all he could take. He stalked into the wood until he was far enough that she wouldn't hear him and leaned his back against a wide oak.

He undid his trousers and took his cock into his right hand, not surprised to feel himself already half hard, precum leaking from the tip. He stroked himself to full hardness and as he closed his eyes he could almost imagine it was her dainty hand wrapping around his shaft, in curious exploration. He ran his thumb over the tip, tilting his head back against the tree as he moaned.

He smiled at the reminder of her healing his hand, and decided to switch. His left hand felt as good as new and as he applied it to the task, it felt better than ever, whether because of the healing magic or because of the thought that just moments ago she had touched this hand.

He licked the tips of his right hand clean as he stroked himself faster. He knew he wouldn't last long and allowed his last image to focus on the memory of her lips singing the healing incantation. He used his right hand to catch the seed, then wiped it on the trunk of the tree.

He exhaled in relief as he composed himself and proceeded to gather some deadfall to use as firewood before walking back to the campsite. He wouldn't have to worry about the temptation he felt around her in a few days, he reminded himself. They'd part ways and he would continue to womanize in peace without having to worry of robbing some young maiden of her virginity.

He didn't allow himself to dwell on the thought that he might be falling for more than her beauty.


	3. Chapter 3

Eugene had curled up to sleep on the most comfortable-looking spot he could find, using a rock as a pillow. Pascal had fallen asleep too, in a cavity at the base of the tree. Rapunzel was still sitting on the large, mossy root of the same tree, stoking the embers of the fire with a stick.

Eugene was being so kind to her. She could have sworn she could pinpoint the moment when his behavior had changed from forbearance from wanting the crown to genuine consideration for _her_.

Was it possible that, like Mother had said, she had imagined the romance? Was it possible that all people were like this? After all, weren't the men at the Snuggly Duckling kind, too – helping them escape like that? Maybe she _was_ imagining it.

But at the cave, when they'd almost met their end at a watery grave, Eugene had dragged her back up from the water. He'd held her by the shoulder and pulled her hair away from her face to look directly into her eyes. The gesture had stilled her; it was a closeness she'd never experienced before. Hadn't that been a genuinely intimate moment?

Her heart felt heavy in her chest. She had never felt more acutely the life denied to her.

The romance _wasn't_ imagined. It was _real_ . . . if only from her part.

After tomorrow, she'd return the crown to him, they'd part ways. She'd go back to her tower and she'd think about him everyday. Would he forget her so easily?

She stood and crept closer to his sleeping form, taking care to keep her hair away from the flame.

His back was facing her. She knelt at the spot.

Mother was a heavy sleeper, Rapunzel wasn't. She didn't know whether Eugene would be. It was different to be asleep than to be unconscious.

Rapunzel put her hand on his shoulder. 'Eugene', she whispered.

She pulled harder on his shoulder to turn him flat on his back. Although he was now in a very awkward position, sleeping with his chin resting directly on his chest, his rhythmic breathing hinted that he was sleeping deeply.

It occurred to her to that she would need some excuse in case he woke up. She dragged her hair from behind her and draped it a length of it on his head, like a crown.

Surprised at her own boldness, she placed her hands on his chest to feel his breathing.

'Eugene', she whispered as quietly as the first time. The hallowness in her heart was audible now.

She leaned her head down to the nook formed by his head and his shoulder and placed her lips to the blue vest. She shut her eyes in concentration and willed herself to imagine it was his skin.

She dragged her hands across his chest in a deliberate attempt to memorize what he felt like, sighed to inhale his unique scent that it might accompany the memory of his body and began to sing.

The incantation sounded so much more like a lament than it might have otherwise. Her hair began to glow as it healed the two large bumps on his head caused by her frying pan. She mentally begged the magic to also impart the memory of her on him.

As the glow dissipated, Rapunzel's head began to clear. She opened her eyes again and began to allow herself to hope that he harbored some affection for her.

She walked back to her place on the root of the tree and settled herself in a nest of hair. As she drifted off to sleep, she focused on that one optimistic thought, her assurance that he cared for her in some way growing stronger in the haze of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Eugene glowered at the half-consumed candle on the nightstand and turned to face the darkness again. The idea of sneaking out was quashed before it was even fully formed. He would not abandon Rapunzel.

After the introduction, Rapunzel and Eugene had been escorted into a sitting room. Rapunzel's parents rejoiced in their daughter's return, assailing her with hugs and questions. Occasionally they would break to effusively thank their daughter's 'friend' for rescuing her.

The difference in status hadn't been so jarring until the King and Queen uttered that word - 'friend'. Of course - to them the poor commoner Eugene Fitzherbert must have been nothing more than a former thief who nearly hung at the gallows before having the good fortune to rescue the lost princess.

Rapunzel must have noted it, too, but said nothing. She had been all smiles until it became clear that her parents had no idea of Eugene as a match for their daughter.

He'd be an honored guest the castle, he'd be officially pardoned for his crimes and there was even a passing mention of granting him a title, but marry the princess? He'd been a fool.

Now he lay in bed, feeling impotent, his brooding interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He sat up in alarm but relaxed upon seeing Rapunzel enter.

Rapunzel muted the click of the handle with her hands. Rapunzel's nightdress fluttered behind her as her bare feet tiptoed across the room. She stopped by the nightstand, seemingly hesitant to intrude on Eugene.

Eugene did not have night clothes and the night air was so warm that sleeping dressed had seemed pointless. A thin sheet was now the only thing that covered his nakedness. Eugene admonished himself for his state of undress and for his wanton admiration of Rapunzel's silhouette against the light.

Eugene shifted his eyes down to his hands as Rapunzel perched herself on the edge of the bed, 'Hi'.

'Hello'.

'Eugene,' she began after a pause, 'I'm so sorry I said nothing about us to my parents.'

'Oh, Rap-'

'No, I should have said something. Come morning, I will tell them. I'm glad to have found them, but I will not be their heir if they refuse to accept us being together.'

'Rapunzel, you can't possibly know what you're saying. Take it from me, being a commoner isn't always easy. You can't give up your birthright just for me.'

'I told you before, you are my new dream. Without you it would be like exchanging one tower for another. I won't - not ever again.'

Rapunzel planted a kiss on his lips before Eugene could contradict her again.

Their kiss in the tower had been chaste and experimental, but the insistence with which Rapunzel pressed her mouth into Eugene's made his heartbeat quicken in spite of his history. Rapunzel's lips conveyed not her innocence nor naiveté, but her refusal to be denied a life again. The intoxicating taste and heat of Rapunzel's mouth fogged over Eugene's every argument until his consciousness could concentrate only on drinking her essence.

Rapunzel pulled out of the kiss and settled next to him, wrapping her arms about his shoulders and nuzzling her face into his neck. Eugene laid his hand on her hip, kneading at her flesh, almost hissing when he realized she was wearing nothing beneath the thin nightdress.

He felt his stomach lurch as he realized his manhood was beginning to harden. In a most counter-intuitive move, he lifted Rapunzel's face up to kiss her again, telling himself that it would distract her from noticing the sheet over his groin bulging up.

Self-indulgent impulse convinced him into thinking a slow, deliberate kiss was the answer to controlling his increasing lust. Eugene dragged his tongue on her lips, coaxing them to part, memorizing every crevice. He lapped at her lips once more before using the slickness to slip his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss.

Rapunzel gasped but clamped her arms around his neck that much harder.

Eugene pulled back to take a breath. His eyes opened and were awarded with the sight of Rapunzel's flushed face still angled up, expectant to resume their kiss - eyes closed, lips rosy and wet. Rapunzel let out a shuddering sigh in anticipation. The breath felt cool against the layer of sweat gathering on Eugene's skin, interrupting his reverie. Equally anxious to continue, he dove back into Rapunzel's lips, checking his need to quicken the kiss by increasing the pressure.

To Eugene's chagrin (though not to his surprise), delaying his ministrations was not enough to stave off his arousal. His erection was throbbing and now prodding at his stomach. He was in agony, his breathing becoming increasingly ragged.

Absorbed in the kiss, Rapunzel began to run her hands up and down Eugene's chest. A low groan escaped Eugene and he seized Rapunzel's wrist.

Rapunzel's mouth separated from Eugene's with a wet smack. Brow furrowed, Rapunzel turned to look at her wrist in his hand and back to his face, the last thing he needed.

Eugene wondered whether it was his perverse imagination projecting his lust onto her face. He'd never seen her look so savage; her brown locks were mussed (fault of his roving hands), her pupils were dark with mischief and she was panting. Her chest swelled in sync with each intake of breath, making it all the more noticeable the way the fabric of the nightdress clung to the perspiration on her skin, outlining her breasts.

Eugene undulated his hips in an almost involuntary motion to find some release. The movement caught Rapunzel's attention. Eugene shut his eyes as if it would keep Rapunzel from seeing his shame.

He wasn't sure what to expect, already forming profuse apologies in his head. Instead of having ask forgiveness, he was shocked to feel Rapunzel free her hand from his grasp, find the hem of the sheet and fold it down and expose him.

His eyes snapped open, just in time to see his cock twitch and leave a streak of fluid on his abdomen.

Eugene flinched in embarrassment, but looked back to see Rapunzel bite her lower lip and meet his gaze. She turned to Eugene's crotch again and dropped her hand to play with the tendrils of hair at his groin.

With her other hand, Rapunzel reached for one of Eugene's, who now realized he had been gripping the bed sheets. Rapunzel lowered Eugene's hand to his cock and whispered, 'Show me.'

Eugene could hardly believe his own daring when he actually rubbed his palm on the tip to spread the fluid, then gripped and began to tug at his member.

Rapunzel looked on in rapt fascination, all the while caressing his thigh, feeling his muscles flex with each movement.

Eugene threw his head back and moaned through gritted teeth. He shifted his unfocused gaze upon Rapunzel, 'Kiss me.'

Rapunzel obliged, taking his face into her hands and bestowing him with the fervent kiss that he'd been depriving from himself moments ago. Eugene plunged one hand into Rapunzel's hair and began pumping into the other in earnest.

The kiss became clumsier with Eugene's writhing. Rapunzel's open-mouthed kisses landed on Eugene's mouth as well as his unshaven jaw, but she found pleasure even in his moaning against her mouth and the scrape of his stubble.

Rapunzel heard the beating of his fist growing faster. She was finally forced to separate from him and settle for watching as the intensity of his orgasm shook through him.

The hand that had been in Rapunzel's hair moved to massage his own chest. Eugene's head and shoulders dug into the pillows, his back arched and his buttocks rose from the mattress. His seed shot into the air before landing on his chest and face as he relaxed back to a reclining position.

Rapunzel watched the creamy, white rivulets trickle down Eugene's heaving chest, catching at the hair. The heat in her belly compelled her to reach for him again. She turned his face to the side and darted her tongue out to taste at the droplets that had landed there.

'It's salty,' she murmured against his skin. Eugene chuckled, since regardless Rapunzel continued to suckle his face clean while rubbing at the liquid on his chest, mixing it with his sweat.

Eugene seized her lips again. The taste of himself in her mouth was enough to send another jolt of desire down to his loins.

Rapunzel kissed her way down his neck to his chest, lapping at the salty, drying residue, clamping down on Eugene's nipple.

Rapunzel's tongue felt silky and the heat of it pierced his chest right through to his heart. Eugene moaned. His eyes were heavy, the candle was burning low.

He slid lower down the bed and heard Rapunzel giggle, 'It's fine, sleep. We'll be together, I promise.' She leaned down to kiss him, 'And I never break my promises.'

Eugene could only smile, too tired to protest as he heard her slip out of the room.

* * *

Eugene's windows faced east. His eyes opened and beheld the light of the sunrise illuminating the room.

He must have slept only for a few hours, but he felt well-rested. He nearly believed it a dream, but he felt the dry tightness of the crust from the night's exertions as he stretched. Eugene touched his chest, grinned and huffed.

Eugene rose and went to the table across the room and poured some water from a pitcher into a basin. He washed his face and moistened a towel to wipe his chest and crotch clean.

As he dressed, he could not help but wonder whether Rapunzel would actually be able to convince her parents to allow her to marry a thief. He walked across to the window, which overlooked the palace gardens, thinking only of the stark contrast of the magnificence and his own commonplace appearance.

He spied three figures walking below, surprised to see Rapunzel with her parents out already. Rapunzel seemed to be imploring something of them, but she was hushed by a gesture of her mother. He felt darkness sink on him; he could only imagine the Queen shushing Rapunzel meant refusal. The Queen embraced her daughter, to comfort her, Eugene assumed.

But upon being released from her mother's arms, Rapunzel laughed - the joy in her face was unmistakable - and in turn embraced both her parents.

Rapunzel turned towards Eugene's window and smiled rapturously. Certain she could see him, he could only smile back.

* * *

**A/N: Please visit my profile for more info. Thanks.**


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